Tag Archives: jerk

Man, want to know pain? Sit in the car for 7 and a half hours after doing insane amounts of heavy deadlifts. Ow. I’m just really happy I took the time Friday afternoon to roll out my back and hamstrings for as long as I did, directly following 14.3. I can’t even imagine how it would have been had I not done that. Oh, and, I should probably mention, I spent Saturday on the beach in my babin’ suit. What do I come home to? SNOW. A million inches of snow, and below freezing temperatures. I can’t even believe this!!! At least I get an extra day of spring break, and was able to make it to crossfit since the roads had thawed out by 430. Ass is officially in gear. I’m going to attempt to start 4x/week this week. I’m nervous, but excited, because I’m ready to take the next step and push myself to the next level.

Strength:

Hang Power Clean and Jerk 3-3-3-3-3: 75-75-75-75-75. I’m still pretty noodley in my core from 14.3, so I stayed pretty light to protect my back in the jerks. I also used this as my first excursion into not dropping the weights from the top, but actually bringing the reps back down to my shoulders, then hips to reset, and then into the next rep. I haven’t done a lot of that since my elbow blew out last year, so that felt awesome.

WOD for Rounds+Reps: 3+14 Rx & 3+10 Rx

AMRAP in 5 Minutes of:

12 Pull-ups: Rx.

6 Burpees: Rx.

Rest 1 Minute, then…

AMRAP in 5 Minutes of:

10 Thrusters: 45lbs, Rx.

1 Rope Climb: Rx.

Since it was a full class, we paired up and had the option to pick which couplet we wanted to start on. I stupidly picked the pull-ups/burpees, and definitely regretted that as soon as I got to the thrusters. But! I did manage to eek out 7 pull-ups unbroken in the first round!!! That was awesome!!!! That’s a PR for max unbroken reps. I think I’m getting stronger, which is great, because I feel like the last three or so months I’ve been about at the same point. Ugh can’t I just be strong as all hell now?! As I mentioned before, I’m going to try to start going 4 times a week, because I feel like I need an extra push and to shake my body up a little bit to get past this plateau.

Holy majoly. The last month and a half really threw me for a loop. Finals, end of semester, holidays, oof. Zero time and/or motivation, and excessive traveling. Bad combination. I was really down on myself about it, until I went back last night and was talking to a friend about it and she said “look, in the long run, what is one missed month? You’re here now. That’s what matters.” And that’s true. It’s so easy to get down on yourself for missing workouts, when in reality, it doesn’t really matter too much as long as you get back on track. Last WOD of 2013!!

Strength:

Back Squat 1-1-1-1: 125-125-125-125(-125 Bonus). This is SO LIGHT for singles for me. But they felt heavy as hell, and it has been three weeks since I squatted. I needed to take it easy, and I’m glad I did because I am in a world of hurt today from it. Only up from here.

WOD for Weight: 55lbs x4

4 Rounds of:

7 Power Cleans

7 Front Squats

7 Jerks

7 Back Squats

7 Back Rack Lunges

* This is a complex – do not put the bar down or rest on the ground during the round. ** Work up to the heaviest weight possible, rest as necessary between rounds.

I started at 55lbs, and wanted to do 55lbs x2, 65lbs x2. I felt like that was a realistic goal. Ha. On the last two rounds I was at failure on the lunges (got stuck in the bottom a few times but somehow made it out) and I had to drop the bar between the front squats and the jerks because my elbow was killing me. This was a pretty terrible workout. If it had been 5s or 3s, it would have been nothing. But 7 reps is a lot, and I have definitely lost a lot of muscle endurance over the last month. I really need to work on doing more high-reps of movements. Bahhh. Least favorite. I had a few girls there yelling at me through the last round, which really helped. I was actually ready to quit and take the DNF, but they got me through it. So great.

Holy smokes!!! What a WOD! I love these chipper WODs, where once you do the whole set of reps for one movement, you’re finished with it. I also really liked the idea of increasing weights throughout the WOD. This was just all around really cool. I greatly enjoyed it.

Strength:

Clean and Jerk 2-2-2-2: 95-95-95-95(-95 bonus!). These felt pretty damn great. The cleans were surprisingly easy, which is usually what I feel the most limited by. I am feeling pretty confident with my c&js lately.

Alllllllmost true Level II. If the snatches had been power snatches, I could have easily done 55lbs. But I’m just not in practice enough to do the technical element of the squat snatch. It’s crazy though. I really could feel my strength on this WOD. Things I thought were going to suck (ahem, lunges, jerks) weren’t bad at all. I also got a set of 7 pullups in, which is maybe a PR? I’m not sure. Anyway, I felt strong and awesome and fast during this WOD (minus the running) and yeah. I love today’s box day.

Whew. I am struggling for time this week. Quick smash today between classes. Ended up with some surface injuries. Coupled yesterday’s strength component and today’s WOD from PCF. Short and sweet WOD, just like this post.

Strength:

Jerk 2-2-2-2: 85-85-85-85-85. Someone had hidden all the 2.5 plates and I didn’t want to try straight for 95. These felt solid though, so I did an extra set. Haven’t hit a Wednesday in a while, so I wasn’t sure where I stood. I know I’m much stronger than the last time we did sets of 2 jerks, I just didn’t want to push it and fall off the oly platform. Ha! The knurling in the center of the bar torrree upppp my right collar bone, the one that sticks out from the AC joint injury forever ago. I like that, because that means I was keeping the bar way up on my shoulders where it’s supposed to be. Injury #1.

WOD for Time: 7:03

5 Rounds of:

10 Russian Kettlebell Swings: 53lbs50lb dumbbell. No KBs in gym. What it lacked in 3lbs it made up for in awkward hand positioning/wrist wrecking. I’m calling that Level II, in spite of the 3lb loss. Ended up with huge bruises on my wrists from this. Ow. The stupid dumbbells at the gym have unnecessarily huge weighted parts (they’re thinner but have a much bigger diameter) so at the bottom of every swing it slammed into my little babywrists. Ugh. They’re going to hurt for a while. Injuries #2 & #3.

6 Hand-Release Push-Ups: Level II. The last two rounds were a little wormy, but I did my best to stay super tight throughout, and am stoked to have stuck with them.

This was a fast, solid workout. Got my abs, shoulders, quads, traps, hammies, chest, and even my back a bit. Seems to be about the time that people who were going a little bit heavier than they’re used to were getting at crossfit, so I’m glad I stuck with the 53ish pounds. If I can make it in tomorrow it’s Karen, which is 150 wallballs for time. Can you see the excitement on my face? No? Well, there is less than zero. Bah! Hopefully I’ll get another solid night of uninterrupted sleep, if the dog will allow it again, and I’ll kill it instead of it killing me!

I did a lot of different moves the past two workouts. I want to get this posted, and if I spend the time to link everything..well, I’ll give up and never post it. So I’m just going to post it without the video descriptors! I promise to be back to the normal format soon! Also hopefully back into actual Crossfit. Being sick and extremely sore have both destroyed my routine this week!

Tuesday:

It seems like whenever I write about going to Crossfit the next day, I never end up going! I woke up in the morning on Monday and I felt absolutely awful and sluggish. I had my class, and slept for pretty much the rest of the day. I made up for it the next day though!!

Strength:

Squat 2-2-2-2: 120-120-120-120. Ehhhhhhhh. Some of these weren’t quite to full, below-parallel depth. I swear, squatting (or any lifting, for that matter) in front of a mirror at the gym is the WORST. I focus so much on watching my form that I psych myself out. “This is so heavy. Omg. You’re getting so low. Omg. Stop. You’re going to have to ditch the weight if you go lower, look how much you’re struggling already.” Pretty much my brain in front of the mirror, every time. But I did them, and they felt pretty good, and I’m confident that next week I’ll hit this for sure.

EMOTM for 10 Minutes of:

2 Hang Power Snatch: 55lbs. Felt strong and steady. Didn’t have to break any sets.

10 ABMAT Situps: Mothereffin’ raspberry on my tailbone from this. Ugh. There has to be a better way.

This was tiring.

WOD for Time: 11:53

5 Rounds of:

12 Alternating Single-Arm Dumbbell Snatch: 30lbs, Level II

12 Alternating Leg Suitcase Carry Dumbbell Lunge: 30lbs, Level II

15 Double Unders: Level II.

This WOD was pretty great, all around. I got all weird right before I started and decided I was only going to do 3 rounds. Then I got to round 3 and I decided to do one more. And then I got to round 4 and decided I was just going to do all 5. Ha. This is why I NEED crossfit. The lunges were death and my double unders were eh, but single arm snatches felt incredible. On the DUs I couldn’t get my rhythm going right. 3 rounds were unbroken, the other two were 10-3-2’ish, but I felt like I was expelling too much energy the whole time. I also warmed up with 5 minutes of solid double under practice, and my freaking calves are still in knots from all the jumping. Ow. I spent more time resting after the double unders too. Neeeeed the pressure of actually being in crossfit!

Finisher:

75 GHDs. Favorite. Forever.

Thursday:

As previously mentioned, my calves. They are dying. I really need to remember to roll them out more before/after doing lots of jumping, because for some reason they lock up so badly after any plyo WODs. I really wanted to go to crossfit Wednesday, but I was still feeling quite under the weather, the raspberry on my butt hurt, and I could barely walk due to my calves. I rested up and got back into the gym today for a light-ish workout. I was jumpy on caffeine, still feeling slightly sick/sore, and pretty tired. Didn’t preform as well as I would have liked, but eh. I just wasn’t all there today. I was all over the place and didn’t get an actual WOD in, but at least I got some good strength work in.

Strength:

Jerk 2-2-2-2: 85-90-90-90(f on second)-85(f on second). Well. That escalated (or…deteriorated..) quickly. I think I started watching myself in the mirror too much and over-thinking it. I need to start lifting with my back to the mirrors. Would that be weird? Probably.

Hang Power Snatch 2-2-1-1-1-1-1-1: 55lbs. Form and explosive work. Had a few really bad reps. Was really off today.

6 Rounds of: 1 Hang Power Snatch into 5 Overhead Squats: 50lbs. These felt good. I mean really good. Probably because the weight was so light, but I just felt on point and balanced and tight and great.

1 set of 10 Hang Power Cleans: 45lbs. Don’t really know why I did these. I guess my plan was to go heavier, but then someone came up and asked to use the oly platform so I just moved on.

50 Alternating Single Arm Dumbbell Snatch: 35lbs. THIS IS A BIG DEAL, YOU GUYS. Just in the beginning of December I tried using the 35lb dumbbell for these. Nope. Couldn’t do it. Could barely even do the 30lb, and failed almost every rep on my left side. On Tuesday I used the 30lb DB in the WOD for this movement, and they felt just really great. Today, I wanted to try the 35 and go until I couldn’t anymore, but taking appropriate rest. I literally could have done these ALL DAMN DAY. I was explosive and strong and my grip was on point and everything felt so great. I think working on the hang power snatch has really helped me use my hips in that nice triple extension to help pop the weight up there. A few of these almost got away from me at the top, even!

50 American Kettlebell Swings (overhead): 35lbs. I really wanted to finish with GHDs again, but there was a guy on there who was doing the stupid plate transfer from side to side, and he looked like he was going to do it forever. This was a good decision though, because my abs are still sore from Tuesday’s GHDs!

I’m so damn happy with how my back/shoulders/traps are filling out. My tummy looks a little soft in that picture, and I’m totally okay with it. It’s weird. It’s as if the fat in my stomach has redistributed itself, so instead of being a little pouch at the bottom, it’s a thinner, more uniform softness over the entire thing. WHICH IS EXCELLENT. I don’t care about softness all over, and I know I talk a lot about not trying to lose weight, but damn did I want that weird little pouch gone. I stood in front of the mirror tonight after dinner, when I was getting into my pjs and I smiled so big and thought to myself “I am SO HAPPY with how I look right now.” And then I just couldn’t stop smiling, because, holy shit, it just keeps getting better. I get stronger and stronger, and happier and happier. I can’t even begin to explain how happy I was using the 35lb dumbbell today for the snatches. Or doing 150 Russian KB swings with the 53lb KB WHAT that is insane. Progress is the best. BEST. Motivator. Ever.

I’m forever exhausted lately. My brain is having a really hard time getting back into the swing of having to wake up early, get out the door quickly, battle traffic, find parking, and absorb information all day again, now that the semester has begun. The break was just long enough to settle into a lazy daily routine and now it’s GO GO GO again and it’s wearing me out!!! I think that partially contributes to today’s WOD. I am not 100% happy with my performance, but I just have to let it go and acknowledge that I’m tired and trying to settle into this new routine! I will not let it defeat me!!!

Strength:

Jerk 3-3-3-3: 85-90(f on 3rd rep)-85-87.5-87.5. Oof. 85lbs felt so damn heavy this week, after last week’s singles where I hit 95lbs! I don’t get it. I feel like I was just getting my form dialed in and my explosive dip/drive at its peak when it was time to start getting ready for the WOD. Wompwomp.

WOD for Rounds+Reps: 7+0

6 Wallballs: 14lbs to 9ft. -Rx. Supposed to be to 10ft but not every one of mine hit 10ft.

Man, this was rough. The pull-ups were easy, and I did 4-1-1 for most rounds, sometimes going 3-2-1, and I think I even did 5-1 for one of the first few. I focused on really kicking my legs to get a big kip and pushing away from the bar at the top to swing through nicely. They felt great. My hands are a little sore, but no tears, so that’s good. Pistols are defeating for me, because I just can’t get them, and I also feel like it’s difficult to not accidentally fall back on too much assistance once I get tired. I need to work out a goal timeframe to get them unassisted by, and work towards it. It’s something I can do on my own without equipment, so there’s no excuse for not working on them a little bit each day. They’re just such a difficult and weird movement! And the wallballs. They were rough. I kept getting too far away from the wall and missing the contact at the top, which also probably took away from getting the 10ft mark most reps. Bah. My shoulders are mush now. Friday will be a better day! Onwards and upwards. File today in the #justshowup category; at least I got in there.

Today was amazing. Wonderful. Victorious. And…very sore. My quads are absolutely killing me from Monday’s WOD, but I decided that I needed to get my butt in there whether I liked it or not, because I really needed to work on my jerks and iron out last week’s issues. And man oh man, am I glad I did!!!

Strength:

Jerk 1-1-1-1-1: (75-85-85-)85-90-90-95-95. This was absolutely amazing. Last week I was, for some reason, terrified of nailing myself in the jaw, and pulling my head way too far back out of the way, and throwing myself off balance. I could barely get 75 up, and failed trying to get 85 up. This week? No sweat. Let me just easily make it up to my previous 1RM for jerks, and feel like I could have gone up much more, had I the time. I put the first three singles in parentheses, because I literally through I’d be staying at 85, so I started counting my set of 5 there. Each one felt amazing, I drove my head through quickly and without hesitation, I was fast on my dip and drive, and all-in-all I did damn well, split jerking each rep. I wanted to get two sets of 95 in, and then really wanted to go for 100, but we ran out of time and I already pushed it with the last single. So happy to have my groove back. I don’t know what was going on previously.

My rounds went 19-19-18-18-18. I can’t count, and wrote 102 on the board today. That’s twice this week I’ve added wrong, post-WOD. Dur. I’m pretty damn happy about this. The longer rest coupled with the explosive, short work periods really allowed me to go balls to the wall, and crush it every single time. My burpees slowed down, but I literally am not even sure how I was able to get 7 full burpees in the first two rounds. For the pullups, I definitely should have tried them with a little weight. Maybe a 5 or 10lb dumbbell between my legs. I was flying through them. I was able to get the first five unbroken every round, and the do the last two as singles. My rhythm was amazing, and I really worked on pushing away from the bar at the top. After the third round I stood there, mouth agape, because of how great my pullups felt. It was awesome. The thrusters were awful, and if my legs weren’t so sore (so sore that I almost didn’t go workout today!!) I would have attempted 65lbs, but 55 kept me in the range of reps that we were supposed to be hitting per round, and I was consistent. Man, this whole workout was so great, and I’m so happy I ended up going!!

I can’t even explain how elated I am about the jerks. It really bummed me out that I was having such weird form issues, because I’m usually really technically proficient, but just lacking the strength to go heavier. But this was all form! So, phew, very happy to not have to deal with that anymore. Also, the box announced the re-opening/re-location of their new sister-box, Potomac Crossfit! It’s exactly one mile from where I live, a 3 minute bike ride, or quick 15 minute walk. I can’t wait for it to open in May!!!

Ughghghhghghghhh I’ve been the worstttttttttt. Back in mid-December I did 2 WODs that I didn’t ever get around to blogging about, and from there on it was all downhill. I went away for my birthday and Christmas, and the gym where I was was seriously lacking. I went a few times and did 100 American KB swings (35lbs), 50 Russian KB (50lbs), weighted back extensions, weighted calf extensions, leg presses (was one plate away from maxing out the machine on sets of 5, that was pretty cool), and some cable rows. I worked up a good sweat and was sore the following days, but it just wasn’t anything special. My first full day back was the 27th, and then I left to go to Philadelphia from the 31st through the 6th, and of course, I caught a cold on NYE. It’s still lingering, and today I feel worse than I have in the past few days. I definitely overdid it in my first day back at crossfit yesterday, but it felt amazing and I’m damn happy to be back in there. The only reason I’m looking forward to the new semester kicking up is so I’ll have a set routine to work out and dance and eat and get awesome. GET AWESOME 2013!

Strength:

Jerk 2-2-2-2: 75-75-75-75(-75-75 bonus sets). Kept it light, trying to work on form. Turns out my bar path is on point and goes straight up, but I’m pulling my head so far back out of the way that it’s throwing me off. I don’t get it! I’ve never had this problem before! I’ve never nailed myself in the chin or anything, so this fear is very random. Definitely something I need to work on. I did two extra sets because it just felt so light. I stuck with push jerks, and didn’t even feel the need to split.

WOD for Time: 11:16

21-15-9

Over-the-Box Jumps: 16″, Level II. No landing on the top of the box. No rest, powered through each round without stopping.

Pull ups: unassisted, Rx. Awful! After such a long break my kipping rhythm was all off. I did sets of 3 and 4 in the 21 round, sets of 3 and 2 for the 15 round, and one set of 2 with the rest singles for the 9 round. Awwwfuuullll. And I can definitely feel it in my back and shoulders today! BUT I am not going to complain, because I did 45 unassisted pull ups. Hell to the yes.

Overall, great WOD to get back in the box with. I’m sore as all get-out, and it brought back my cold, but oh well. I felt amazing, and still do, and I’m super excited to get my pre-holiday body back. I don’t feel like I gained any fat, which is extremely surprising considering how I drank/ate, but I definitely lost some muscle tone. And the number on the scale stayed the same, even though I don’t judge myself by that; it was just…surprising. Abs, I’m coming for you again! My shoulders are filling out so nicely, and so is my back. Happiest. I am supposed to have my new dance class at a different studio location and with a different teacher tonight, but I made dinner plans before I remembered that this was the first week of the session. Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to wait until next week to see how I like it.

There has been more going on in my life than I would like to admit, but between school and everything else, I have been the busiest I’ve been in what seems like a year. I’m also still having the same sleeping issues, and that is causing me to suffer greatly, especially with motivation. I am looking forward to this break for Thanksgiving, and even more to getting back into Crossfit Carteret down in NC while I’m away. It will be nice to reset by the ocean for a few days.

Strength:

Jerk 1-1-1-1: 85-90(f)-85-85-85.My speed under the bar was really good, but I wasn’t getting a direct line of upward force. I think I didn’t have the bar racked close enough to my neck in the starting position, so it was floating out a little when I’d jerk up. But the last two felt really good and strong, and I think if I had tried 90 again at the end I would have been fine. I C&J’d 95 about a month ago, so I blame the forever exhaustion I feel.

WOD for Time: 12:23

30 Assisted Pull-ups: ~20lbs assisted, with band. They were awful at this point.

This was wild! The 30 thrusters at the end were the worst part. Thrusters are just so awful in general, but that is a LOT for the end of a workout. I liked the increasing ladder with decreasing weight, but it was a killer, especially since my legs were still sore from Monday’s squats.

Tomorrow we have squats and “Grace,”so I’ll inevitably be spending the rest of the night trying to figure out what weight I should use. Forever overthinking.